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After Effects
Command Frame
Command Frame is the command layer After Effects never had. Search for layers, effects, presets, toolbars, scripts, plugin actions, and more from one floating interface. Type, chain, and shortcut anything.
The command layer After Effects never had.
No more stopping mid-flow to dig through menus, panels, and ancient forum posts for the command you need.
Command Frame is a floating search-and-command interface for After Effects. Summon it with a shortcut, type your intent, and execute - effects, presets, layer commands, scripts, plugin actions, and more.
The Problem
After Effects is the most powerful application in motion design. It is also one of the most friction-heavy to actually use at speed.
You know exactly what you want to do. Getting there is another matter. The effect you need is three menus deep. The script you want isn't bound to anything. Layer search collapses every property. Changing keyframes in a busy comp means stopping, scrolling and hunting - for every layer, every time. Plugin features live in isolated UIs. Adobe's shortcut system handles built-in commands reasonably well and little else.
Minor frustrations individually. Together, across a working day, they are a constant tax on your attention and flow.
Summon. Type. Execute.
Command Frame revolves around one core interaction:
- Open with a shortcut
- Type the outcome you want
- Run it immediately
A floating, animated surface that is visible only when you need it, and gone when you do not.
At its simplest, it is a dramatically faster way to do anything in After Effects. At its full potential, it is much more: a UI layer for the application that gives you faster, configurable access to everything inside it.
Configurable Multi-Step Commands
Command Frame does not stop at launching a single action. It can execute multiple configurable actions at once: chain them, save them, and bind them to shortcuts that fire without the panel ever opening.
A few examples of possible multi-step commands include:
Center anchor & center layer
An ideal multi-step command to bind to a shortcut for an easy, on-demand way to align a layer absolutely in the middle of the composition view.
set work area to selected layers & trim comp to work area
A quick macro to set the work area and trim the composition from a given layer selection.
Select nth 2 &
shift each descending 12f
Select every other layer, and stagger the layers in the composition by 12 frames each.
Arrow layer & time
00:13:23 & rotation
key 50 & time
+30 & rotation
+120 & select all visible keyframes
& easy ease
Animate a layer's rotation property end-to-end in Command Frame without interacting with the timeline panel, including scrubbing the timeline and selecting the layer.
Layer group 2 &
solo
Streamline one of the most tedious parts of character animation by grouping different elements of a rig, then soloing them with a single keyboard shortcut.
duplicate & shift
12f & rename suffix
_echo & opacity
/2
A fast echo builder: duplicate selected layers, offset them 12 frames, suffix their names, and halve their opacity using a relative value change.
EaseCopy is owned by Mike Overbeck. Command Frame is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Mike Overbeck or EaseCopy.
One Surface. Every Layer, Composition, and Command Searchable.
Command Frame combines a unified search and command system.
True Layer Search
Adobe's layer search simply filters the composition to your desired layer while also collapsing every possible layer property structure. The tradeoff: find your layer, or keep all the keyframes, expanded properties, and shape groups you were working on visible.
Layers are presented as actions in Command Frame. Running them:
- Selects the layer
- Navigates your timeline directly to the layer
Specifying multiple layers will also additively select them. Actions, including layers, also offer autocomplete hints that save you from having to write out its full name.
Compositions
Instantly search, target, and open compositions within your project. Compositions appear as actions; running a composition action will open it directly, removing the friction of navigating busy project panels and nested folders.
Effects and Presets
Fast effect and preset application are the most universal After Effects workflows, and many users' first plugin to download. Command Frame handles it as a first-class use case with fast fuzzy search, instant filtering, abbreviation support, and search intelligence designed to exceed the speed of dedicated effect launchers such as Quick Apply. Searching for effects and presets is just the start.
Applying an effect or preset without a layer selection will create an appropriate layer first. The default layer type is freely customisable.
Layer Commands and Property Setting
Type to set layer properties directly. Available property commands include opacity, scale, rotation, position, anchor point, and orientation, each supporting values, relative operations (such as
*2 or /5), and whether to create a keyframe.
opacity 50
scale kf 120
rotation -15
What required several mouse drags and clicks before now becomes a single typed command.
Layer Operations
Rename, duplicate, delete, shift, parent and unparent, create nulls, shapes, solids, text layers, adjustment layers, set Alpha/Luma track matte variants by selection order, and clear track mattes - all searchable, all executable, and all triggerable directly from Command Frame.
AE Menu Commands
A broad surface of After Effects menu commands are searchable through Command Frame. Commands you would normally scan menus to find become instantly retrievable or assignable to their own shortcuts.
User Scripts
Installed user scripts are surfaced and searchable alongside built-in commands, giving them the same fast access model as everything else.
Importable Actions from Scripts and Plugins
Command Frame is designed to surface actions from other plugins through a shared action system. First-party tools, including Control Groups, Compstronaut, and Select Every Other Layer, expose their actions directly into Command Frame's UI, making them searchable, assignable to shortcuts, and part of your everyday command set without switching panels.
Imported toolbars' individual buttons are also brought into the fray as actions, so your existing plugins and extensions you have already organised remain accessible.
Battle Axe is owned by Adam Plouff. Command Frame is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Adam Plouff or Battle Axe.
Shortcuts for Everything
Any action in Command Frame, a single command, a saved multi-step chain, a script, or a plugin action, can be assigned a free-form shortcut and triggered without Command Frame ever opening. In practice, this means you can build and bind macros: multi-step operations that run with no panel required. Adobe's script shortcut situation is a well-known frustration that Command Frame sidesteps entirely as an additional benefit.
Imported toolbars can be assigned their own shortcuts; Command Frame can be summoned and used directly as a toolbar to save on panel space.
What makes Command Frame Unique?
See how Command Frame compares to other After Effects launchers:
| Feature | Command Frame | Other Launchers |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | Typed values, parameter aliases, relative operations, and keyframe intent | N/A |
| Workspaces | Workspaces as actions | N/A |
| Multi-step commands | Multiple actions in one reusable query | N/A |
| Layer selections | Search, select, target, and chain layer selections | N/A |
| Composition targeting | Search, open, and navigate directly to project compositions | N/A |
| History | Full history of successful and unsuccessful queries, Shift+Up/Down for query history recall | N/A |
| Importable actions | Scripts, toolbars, toolbar buttons, Hook API with state and parameter support | Scripts |
| AE menu commands | Included, plus exclusive commands, expanding parameter support, and commands from After Effects' shortcut menu that are inaccessible to other plugins | Standard support |
| Search Intelligence | Advanced fuzzy search, dynamic scoring, search autocomplete hints, panel animations, text-token highlighting, abbreviation support, toast messages, tooltips, aliases, pins, and blacklist | Basic fuzzy search, basic alias support, pins, blacklist |
| Effects and presets | Full support, plus expanding parameterisation support and automatic layer-creation intelligence customisable per action | Standard support; layer-creation logic requires explicit input or settings toggles |
| Shortcuts | Launcher shortcut, free-form shortcuts for saved commands or command chains with optional panel visibility, and conflict warnings with After Effects and other plugins' shortcuts | Launcher shortcut and limited 1-10-digit hotkeys that require launcher visibility |
Ecosystem Synergy
Command Frame is a strong standalone tool. It becomes more powerful when other plugins interface with it directly.
Dubbed Hook actions, first-class API integrations offer richer commands and state than importable scripts or toolbar actions.
Command Frame debuts with Hook actions from three first-party extensions that naturally lend themselves to powerful multi-step queries:
Control Groups
Control Groups saves layer selections as layer folders, which can be targeted in Command Frame. Target, add to, remove from, and navigate across compositions directly to saved selections.
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add layers to group 1 -
go to layer group 2 -
overwrite layer group 3 -
remove layers from group 4 -
delete layer group 5 -
select group 6
Select Every Other Layer
Select Every Other Layer is built for precise layer targeting by row number. Layer range selections, nth-layer patterns, add and remove selections, and quick selections become some of the most useful commands available in Command Frame.
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select layers 1-12 -
deselect layers 5-25 -
select nth 2 -
quick select layers down -
quick select layers up
Compstronaut
Compstronaut adds browser-style back and forward navigation to After Effects, making your composition and timeline history navigable from Command Frame alongside everything else.
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back -
forward -
previous comp -
next comp
History and Saved Actions
Command Frame keeps a persistent execution history. Previously executed queries are surfaced and searchable, so repeating a recent operation is easy. Pressing Shift+Up/Down lets you
conveniently recall past queries directly in the search field.
Any previously executed query can be promoted and saved, given a shortcut, pinned, and even assigned aliases. Your most valuable commands and command chains are permanently accessible from search without rebuilding them each session.
Context-Awareness
Command Frame is not static. It is connected to After Effects' live state.
Actions that require selected layers are surfaced and enabled when layers are selected. Commands that depend on an active composition are available when a composition is open. Layer and composition names update in real time as your project evolves, ensuring searches always reflect the current project state.
The search text itself gives you live feedback as you type. You know what Command Frame understands to be valid before pressing Enter.
Live-state is an architectural step-change beyond previous script-era tools. The interface is alive and aware, reacting to changes in your project in real time.
Compatibility
Adobe After Effects
Minimum supported host versions:
- Apple macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon): Adobe After Effects 2024 or later.
- Microsoft Windows: Adobe After Effects 2024 or later.
Operating System
Minimum required versions:
- Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) or later.
- Apple macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Built for the Way You Actually Work
Most tools in AE ask you to learn where they live. Command Frame asks you what you want.
Comments
Discussions
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Version History
1.3.2 -
Jun 6, 2026
- Added Font Awesome 4 icon support for imported toolbars.
- Added the ability to overwrite an action's shortcut when attempting to assign its shortcut to another action, with an accompanying warning dialogue requesting confirmation before applying the overwrite.
- Added the ability to replace an AE-shortcut-command-based action's existing After-Effects-based shortcut when assigning a shortcut to it from within Command Frame.
- Added a new setting that allows Command Frame to replace conflicting shortcuts automatically without asking each time. This accompanies the new shortcut overwrite feature.
Changed
- Improved shortcut latency and responsiveness; shortcuts should be faster to respond and less likely to be missed while After Effects is busy.
- Improved reliability in how Command Frame finds the active After Effects shortcut preference file.
- Command Frame now applies changes to AE-shortcut-command-based commands' shortcuts immediately without needing to restart AE or open AE's Keyboard Shortcuts window. These types of actions now feel much more integrated and less clumsy to manage within Command Frame.
- Vanilla After Effects panels, and search-window actions, now have lower default rankings in Command Frame's search, and are now less likely to appear for related search terms (e.g., searching "Fill" should stop floating "Toggle Content-Aware Fill Panel" as high in the results).
- Minor settings organisation and wording cleanup.
Fixed
- Fixed some imported toolbars opening with missing or blank button icons when Font Awesome was not installed.
- Fixed some function keys appearing unavailable in Command Frame even when After Effects did not show a visible command using them.
- Fixed some AE-shortcut-command-based actions appearing in Command Frame even when the active After Effects shortcut file did not contain them. These actions are now hidden from normal search results and show a clearer reason for unavailability when opened directly.
- Fixed a bug which caused the search scrollbar to appear in the initial pill shape Command Frame occasionally summons into.
- Fixed Command Frame shortcuts running while typing into an After Effects text layer.
1.3.1b -
May 31, 2026
- 1.3 features for macOS have been restored following the temporary rollback for Command Frame.
- Improved syncing with SBShortcutManager to reduce startup and reconnect latency.
Fixed
- Fixed an instability issue affecting macOS, which produced consistent crashes on startup.
1.3.1 -
May 29, 2026
- Temporary rollback for macOS.
1.3 -
May 28, 2026
- Added an Accessibility section in Settings. This is the first pass at addressing accessibility in Command Frame.
- Added a reduced motion setting, which makes various animations instant. Critical feedback, tutorials, and attention indicators remain unchanged.
- Added an optional Panel outline setting for extra visibility or customisation. The outline can be thin, standard, or thick, with white, carbon, argent, red, blue, green, and orange colour options.
- Added support for assigning function keys, such as F1, as well as keypad keys and more special keys to shortcuts.
- Added an optional setting to dismiss Command Frame when clicking outside it.
- Added an optional setting to clear the search field after a successful search action.
- Added scrolling support for very large imported toolbars.
Changed
- Command Frame now reopens with an empty search field by default. The previous behaviour can still be enabled in Settings with `Restore the previous query when Command Frame reopens`.
- Improved imported toolbar icon rendering so text and named icon buttons stay visible, centred, and contained in both toolbar buttons and search results.
- Improved imported toolbar icon rendering so named icons can use the matching installed icon font when it is available.
- Moved toolbar button descriptions to appear directly under the toolbar title.
Fixed
- Fixed some KBar toolbar files failing to import with "Unable to open archive" even when the toolbar data could still be read.
- Fixed imported toolbar keyboard navigation so the arrow keys move predictably between the visible neighbouring buttons.
- Fixed Escape handling while a popup is open, so Escape closes the popup before Command Frame handles normal panel navigation or dismissal.
- Fixed a context-menu flicker where the window-position menu could briefly reappear when Command Frame was dismissed with a keyboard shortcut.
- Fixed shortcut clearing and reassignment for certain actions whose names included characters such as /.
- Fixed some Windows installations of localised After Effects effect names not appearing in Command Frame's search. This primarily affected localised effect names containing non-ASCII characters.
- Fixed a macOS issue where After Effects dialogs, such as save, open, or quit prompts, could become difficult or impossible to use while Command Frame was stacked on top.
1.2 -
May 23, 2026
- Added a General search setting that filters pinned actions to the current search term while you type. When the search field is empty, all pinned actions still appear.
- Added searchable toggle actions for common After Effects Window menu panels, including Effects & Presets, Motion Sketch, Project, Preview, and Render Queue.
- Added a Windows-only Hardware acceleration setting. Turning it off uses compatibility graphics after restarting After Effects.
- Added Windows crash recovery that can automatically switch Command Frame to compatibility graphics if Windows reports a matching graphics driver crash while Command Frame is opening.
- Added an After Effects notice when Command Frame cannot open because another plugin has already loaded a conflicting interface component. The notice identifies the conflicting plugin when possible and gives restart guidance.
- Added a tutorial step that points out the General settings controls for how Command Frame opens and how search behaves, making those options easier to discover.
Changed
- Improved localised search so action names with characters such as ä, ö, ü, and ß are easier to find, including names split by punctuation such as slashes.
- Command Frame open and close actions no longer appear in the action history listing.
- Changed `Reveal Composition in Project` so a selected pre-comp layer can reveal its source composition in the After Effects Project panel. If no layers are selected, it reveals the current composition instead.
Fixed
- Fixed `Parent to New Null` so the new null is placed directly above the selected layers, and without altering the original layer selection in the timeline.
- Fixed `Parent to New Null` creating unexpected Position keyframes on animated layers.
- Fixed multi-step commands that include imported toolbar actions so later steps continue after the toolbar action finishes.
- Fixed imported toolbars missing button icons when the icon was text-based.
- Fixed imported toolbars using text and named glyph icons appearing in toolbar buttons without their original colours.
- Fixed Saved Position so Command Frame reopens at the recorded location instead of reopening at the current mouse position.
- Fixed macOS search-field shortcuts such as Command+A, Command+C, Command+V, and Command+X so they edit the search text instead of being passed to After Effects. This also works when Control and Command are swapped in macOS keyboard settings.
- Fixed Command Frame's "Do not attempt to load in multiple instances of After Effects" guard. Command Frame now only attempts to load when actually running as part of After Effects, rather than in headless instances or renderers such as Premiere Pro's Dynamic Link.
1.1.1 -
May 17, 2026
- Added full support for invoking installed After Effects CEP extensions and ScriptUI Panels via actions in Command Frame.
Changed
- Improved Control Groups search behaviour when layer-group actions and the Control Groups panel are both available.
- Improved installed panel search results so ScriptUI Panels, CEP extensions, and native panels use clearer labels and badges.
- Improved multi-step layer creation commands so follow-up layer actions can run more reliably after creating a new solid, null, shape layer, light, or camera.
Fixed
- Fixed a bug that prevented the Command Frame tutorial from functioning on Windows.
- Fixed ScriptUI Panel actions so verified panels can open from Command Frame instead of appearing without launching their panel.
- Fixed several invalid or internal extension entries appearing as installed panel actions.
- Fixed built-in After Effects panels, such as Properties and Effects & Presets, incorrectly appearing as installed plugin panel actions.
- Fixed a Windows issue where Command Frame could take longer than expected to reopen after being dismissed.
- Added additional Windows safety handling around showing and hiding Command Frame's floating UI.
1.1 -
May 16, 2026
- Added a General setting for dismissing Command Frame by right-clicking the search field. Enabled by default.
- Added support for mixed absolute and relative values in multi-value property commands, such as `position 130 +0 +0`.
- Added installed CEP extensions in Command Frame search so they can be opened directly from the action list.
- Added `Reveal Current Composition in Project` so the active composition can be selected in the After Effects Project panel, even when no layers are selected.
- Added the `Select Next Effect`/ `Select Next Layer` shortcut action.
- Added the `Extend Selection to Next Effect` / `Extend Selection to Next Layer` shortcut action.
- Added the `Select Previous Effect` / `Select Previous Layer` shortcut action.
- Added the `Extend Selection to Previous Effect` / `Extend Selection to Previous Layer` shortcut action.
Changed
- First pass at implementing Script-UI panels as actions. These are currently inert but will be fixed in an upcoming hotfix.
Fixed
- Additional safety hardening logic for the Windows GUI.
- Fixed composition search results not dismissing Command Frame after opening a composition when auto-dismiss was enabled.
- Fixed supported hook actions not dismissing Command Frame after they finished successfully when auto-dismiss was enabled.
- Fixed text-only history items (i.e., inert search terms) providing no feedback when alt-clicked. Command Frame now provides feedback that the sequence of attempting to expand action options on these types of history entries is invalid.
- Fixed chained CTI commands so relative CTI steps use the timeline position created by earlier steps in the same command.
- Fixed frame-based CTI and Shift commands using the wrong frame offset in higher-frame-rate compositions.
1.0.5 -
May 15, 2026
- Added broader support-friendly path diagnostics to help troubleshoot startup, SBShortcutManager connection, and After Effects preferences access issues without exposing full local paths.
- Expanded the Connection Doctor to generate additional system diagnostics.
Changed
- Improved how Command Frame and SBShortcutManager handle Windows folders and files when user profile paths contain non-ASCII characters.
- Improved reliability around settings, logs, command history, preset discovery, and After Effects shortcut preference files on Windows.
- Minor performance bump from internal catalog optimisation.
Fixed
- Fixed several Windows file path handling issues that could affect startup, SBShortcutManager connection, and After Effects shortcut preference access from profiles or folders with non-ASCII characters.
1.0.4 -
May 14, 2026
- Expanded the Connection Doctor with additional diagnostics for troubleshooting.
Changed
- Signposted the Readme more clearly in error scenarios.
Fixed
- Fixed a bug on Windows 11 which caused Command Frame to think text fields were perpetually active, preventing the summon/dismiss shortcut from working.
- Improved performance in recognising text field selection on Windows 11.
- Fixed a 'tink' sound that was playing in Command Frame on macOS when the summon/dismiss shortcut was run.
- Added safey guards to prevent crashing when file paths include unexpected characters.
1.0.3 -
May 14, 2026
- Added Connection Doctor to Settings -> Privacy and Maintenance, making it easier to check Command Frame's SBShortcutManager connection and copy a support-friendly report when needed.
Fixed
- Improved SBShortcutManager connection detection, especially when another local extension service is active in the same connection channel.
- Improved startup connection handling so Command Frame is less likely to mistake another local service for SBShortcutManager, which was preventing Command Frame from establishing a connection.
Changed
- Improved the macOS plugin package so Command Frame and SBShortcutManager are identified more consistently by macOS and After Effects.
1.0.2 -
May 13, 2026
- Fixed some multi-step commands stopping after the first step when the command required selected layers but did not alter the current selection.
- Fixed a case where Command Frame could show Another query plan is already running" after a chained command did not finish correctly.
- Improved chained layer-related commands' reliability, such as for "center anchor point", "reverse layer order", "duplicate", and layer creation commands when followed by another command.
- Fixed "Split Layer" appearing available when no layer was selected.
1.0.1 -
May 12, 2026
Compatibility
After Effects
2026, 2025, 2024